The BFG

title The BFG
director Steven Spielberg
year 2016
country UK
certificate PG
running_time 117 mins
date 28 April
venue
name Rosendale School
location Rosendale Rd, West Dulwich, London SE21 8LR
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time.start 7:30pm
trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ0Bey4YUGI
description Directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Mark Rylance, BFG is the hopscotchy adaptation of Roald Dahl’s book about a young orphan named Sophie and the dream-blowing Big Friendly Giant. Since it was released in 1982 the BFG has sold more than 37 million copies worldwide and the Herne Hill Free Film Festival is delumptiously happy to be bringing this most recent film adaptation to Rosendale Primary School on 28 April at 7:30pm for the 2017 festival’s opening film! Mark Rylance, the voice of the BFG, a local resident and one of the greatest stage actors of his generation will be appearing for a Q&A after the screening. How whoopsy whiffling is that! After discovering a mysterious cloaked figure blowing something through a trumpet-shaped object into a nearby bedroom window, the orphan Sophie is taken to Giant Land by the BFG. There she gets to learn about frobscottle, whizpopping and snozcumbers but also the lives of the BFG’s less than friendly neighbours and their less than savoury activities. With Sophie’s help the BFG manages to convince the Queen of England of the need to imprison the unfriendly giants and, with the British Army and Royal Air Force behind her (it would hardly be believable otherwise!), the Fleshlumpeater, Bloodbottler, Gizzardgulper and Childchewer all find themselves suspended from helicopters rotoring their way to an ucky-mucky end in a subterranean prison. Come to Rosendale Primary School on 28 April at 7:30pm to celebrate the opening of the 2017 Herne Hill Free Film Festival and for the chance to meet the BFG himself, Mark Rylance, who will be answering questions from the audience after the film! We expect this to be a popular event so get there early to grab a seat… and you’ll be glad to know that while refreshments will be available frobscottle and snozcumbers will only be featuring on the screen!
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Metropolis

title Metropolis
director Fritz Lang
year 1927
country Germany
certificate PG
running_time 153 mins
date 29 April
venue
name All Saints Church
location Lovelace Rd, London SE21 8JY
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time.start 7:30pm
trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSExdX0tds4
description The first great sci-fi film, Metropolis fixed for the rest of the century the image of a futuristic city as a hell of scientific progress and human despair. From this film descended Blade Runner, The Fifth Element, Escape From LA, Gattaca and Batman's Gotham City and the laboratory of its evil genius created the visual look of mad scientists for decades to come. The Herne Hill Free Film Festival cannot control its excitement to be screening Fritz Lang’s classic, accompanied by Gottfried Huppertz’s original score, at All Saints’ Church – a truly spectacular local venue – on 29 April at 7:30pm. Aaarrrgghhh. So excited! Metropolis employed vast sets, 25,000 extras and astonishing special effects decades ahead of its time to create a world of two parts, each ignorant of the other. Both are run by the businessman-dictator Joh Fredersen: the great city of Metropolis, with its stadiums, skyscrapers and expressways in the sky is starkly contrasted with the subterranean workers’ city, where the clock face shows 10 hours to cram another day into the work week. Joh’s son Freder is in the Pleasure Gardens one day when Maria, a woman from the subterranean city, brings a group of workers' children to the surface. Struck by Maria’s beauty and astonished to learn of the life led by the workers, Freder seeks out the demented genius Rotwang, who knows the secrets of the lower world. We know you’ve heard of Metropolis – hey, it’s one of the most influential films ever made – but we also know you’ve probably never had the opportunity to see it in a setting as spectacular as All Saints Church. Lang filmed for nearly a year, driven by obsession, often cruel to his colleagues, a perfectionist madman. All we’re asking for is one evening. It’d be rude not to come along on 29 April at 7:30pm!
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48hr Film Competition

title 48hr Film Competition
director Open to all
date 30 April
venue
name The Prince Regent
location 69 Dulwich Rd, Brixton, London SE24 0NJ
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time.start 12pm
description The Herne Hill Free Film Festival’s 48 Hour Film Competition is back for its fifth year, continuing its search for local filmmaking talent. If you’re not already familiar with the biggest annual filmmaking competition the SE24 postcode has ever seen, we give you a line of dialogue, a prop, a Herne Hill location and 48 hours and all you have to give us is a 2 minute short film that will make SE23 and SE25 seethe with jealousy. The clock starts ticking on Saturday 29 April so come to The Prince Regent from 12pm to enter, and come back 48 hours later at 12pm on 1 May with your Clockie* winner. You can use your phone, a tablet, a camera or anything else you can lay your hands on to craft your masterpiece which will be judged by our panel of Oscar winners (for once, we’re being serious!) and as with previous years there are three competition categories: Under 16s; Over 16s; and Families. The awards ceremony will be taking place at effraspace at 4pm on 28 May, ahead of our Station Square screening where the winners’ films will also be showcased for the cinematic education of the whole of Herne Hill. *The prize all Oscar, Palme d’Or and Golden Bear winners would happily trade their awards and grandmothers for. Crafted from solid wood, ink from a pen and real (yes, real) plastic buttons, Herne Hill’s Clockie is an accurate representation (with a healthy dose of artistic discretion) of Brockwell Park’s famous clock tower.
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Untold Stories Evening

title Untold Stories Evening
director Ash Brennan, Isis Thompson
certificate Not rated
running_time 46 mins + 26 mins
date 30 April
venue
name effraspace
location 21 Effra Parade, Brixton, London SW2 1PX
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time.start 8pm
trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33Uur4YqY78
description On 30 April from 8pm the Herne Hill Free Film Festival is hosting its Untold Tragedies evening at effraspace. With two films about unconnected tragedies thousands of miles apart, we want to make Herne Hill residents aware of major events that don’t get the coverage they deserve; it might come as a surprise but our Facebook feeds may not be the best way to keep us abreast of the issues we need to know about. We are grateful to The United Liberation Movement of West Papua who will attend the screening and participate in a Q&A after the evening’s films. All donations from the event will go to their campaign and we thank you in advance for your generous support. Punks for West Papua (46 mins) Created by Ash Brennan and narrated by Basia Bonkowski, this short film tells the story of the Australian punk scene’s fight against Indonesian oppression of West Papua, in which Indonesia receives support from the Australian government. Jody Bartolo of Sydney punk band Diggers with Attitude turns a fundraising event into an Australia wide benefit involving over 50 bands in 7 cities around the country, making Punks For West Papua the biggest, and no doubt, loudest punk rock showcase in Australia’s history. The documentary has been picking up awards around the world, including the Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards and IndieFest San Diego. For more information on the punks’ fight please visit www.punks4westpapua.com. Marikana: Precious Metal (26 mins) A year after the Marikana massacre, where South African police opened fire and killed 34 striking miners, the women of the Wonderkop settlement decide to stage a musical play of the event. Led by the charismatic and inspirational Primrose they struggle against forgetting and struggle for justice, in the face of ongoing violence between rival unions and the mining company Lonmin which is focused on business as usual.
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Embrace of the Serpent

title Embrace of the Serpent
director Ciro Guerra
year 2015
country Colombia
certificate 12A
running_time 125 mins
date 1 May
venue
name The Lido Café
location Brockwell Swimming Pool, Dulwich Rd, London SE24 0PA
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time.start 8pm
trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdG5X7fEMRs
description A winner at Cannes and a nominee for the 2015 Best Foreign Language Oscar (Colombia’s first ever Oscar nomination), Embrace of the Serpent tells two tales – separated by more than 30 years – of European scientists searching for the yakruna, a mystical and fictional flower. Join us at The Lido Café, one of our favourite venues, on 1 May at 8pm for Ciro Guerra’s dreamlike journey to the Amazon. In one sense Embrace of the Serpent is a drama about the effect of European colonialisation on the Amazon but in another it is an attempt by Colombian director Ciro Guerra to build a bridge between western and Amazonian storytelling. Shot on location in the Colombian jungle over 8 weeks the film tells two stories of European explorers searching for a fictional flower, set more than 30 years apart. Based on the journals of two real-life explorers, the film weaves these stories around a shamen called Karamakate who is the last surviving member of the Cohiuano tribe. An old and a young Karamakate puts the Europeans’ materialism and vanity into perspective but in this 2hr visual indulgence these characters also offer an indigenous viewpoint to the terror and violence of the colonial era. With breath-taking cinematography and a soundtrack that blends indigenous song with contemporary instrumentation this is a film you can’t miss. The Guardian called it an “extraordinary, hypnotic work” and we were certainly extraordinarily hypnotised when we saw it during its too-narrow UK release in 2016. If you want to see for yourself, and we recommend that you do, join us at The Lido Café on 1 May at 8pm!
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Demain (Tomorrow)

title Demain (Tomorrow)
director Cyril Dion, Melanie Laurent
year 2015
country France
certificate Not rated
running_time 118 mins
date 2 May
venue
name Elmgreen School
location Elmcourt Rd, West Norwood, London SE27 9BZ
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time.start 7pm
trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUN0QxRB7e0
description Faced with a future that scientists say is a great cause for concern, Demain optimistically identifies initiatives in ten countries around the world that have proven themselves: concrete examples of solutions to environmental and social challenges of the twenty-first century, be it agriculture, energy, economy, education and governance. Winner of the 2016 César Award for Best Documentary Film, the Herne Hill Free Film Festival is pleased to be screening Demain in one of its new venues, Elmgreen School on 2 May at 7:30pm. Allez! A globetrotting documentary that’s more focused on solutions than problems, Demain provides a comprehensive look at ways in which activists, organisers and everyday people are trying to make the world a better, greener, more sustainable place. Co-directed by ecological rights advocate Cyril Dion and actress-filmmaker Melanie Laurent, this playfully made exposé should be required viewing for anyone wondering what they could do to pitch in and save the planet. Released theatrically in France just as 195 countries joined together to sign the landmark Paris Climate Accord, Demain offers up an alternative to big-nation (and some might say inadequate) proposals, revealing how farmers, teachers, researchers and small-town participants have found their own methods for combating issues like global warming, food shortage and general economic meltdown. We’ve broken the rules of the Herne Hill Free Film Festival for this screening and are venturing into the wild world of SE27 for the evening (don’t tell, please!). So join us at Elmgreen School on 2 May at 7:30pm for an optimistic film about a pessimistic theme… but if you come along you’ve just got to promise that you’ll start trying to save the world from the morning of 3 May.
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Four Mums in a Boat

title Four Mums in a Boat
director Simon Tucker
year 2016
country UK
certificate Not rated
running_time 90 mins
date 3 May
venue
name The Florence
location 131-133 Dulwich Rd, Herne Hill, London SE24 0NG
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time.start 8pm
trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2uWcukaSpg
description My mum created me, so I’ve been proud of her all my life. However when I caught a glimpse of Four Mums in a Boat and what other people’s madres are really capable of, I started asking questions. In particular I wanted to know why my old lady wasn’t, at her tender age, even pedalo’ing across the lake in Dulwich Park let alone rowing the Atlantic Ocean. If you want to go through the same personal crisis as me, come down to The Florence on 3 May at 8pm and be blown over by a short film about a long journey, and four incredible women from Yorkshire. We are particularly excited about this one as the filmmaker, Simon Tucker, will be coming to the screening to answer questions after the film… And if that’s not enough there will also be a number of inspiring short films on the night (which we’re keeping under wraps to preserve their inspirationalness… but we assure you they’re worth the trip on their own)! In December 2015, 27 crews paddled out from La Gomera, the start line of the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge and attempted to row over 3,000 miles to Antigua. Among the crews were some of the toughest endurance athletes in the world. And four mums from Yorkshire. With absolutely no endurance or adventure experience to speak of. Four Mums in a Boat tells the tale of how four women from Yorkshire became the oldest all-female crew to row across any ocean, despite meeting a hurricane and losing power, water and their steering along the way. Screened as part of the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour we’re glad that it’s making a stop in SE24 on 3 May, so come on down to The Florence at 8pm to be overOARed (we know, our wit knows no bounds) and inspired by four people’s mums. Simon Tucker, the filmmaker, will be coming along to answer questions after the screening and we will also be showing a number of short films to cap yet another amazing night in Herne Hill.
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Adult Life Skills

title Adult Life Skills
director Rachel Tunnard
year 2016
country UK
certificate 15
running_time 96 mins
date 4 May
venue
name The Prince Regent
location 69 Dulwich Rd, Brixton, London SE24 0NJ
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time.start 8pm
trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyEe6cXU-v8
description While you would not be wrong in calling Adult Life Skills a playful drama about a woman who lives in a shed you’d be missing out on a lot of what makes Rachel Tunnard’s directorial debut so great. Based on a short-film the Herne Hill Free Film Festival screened in 2016 (called Emotional Fusebox, we loved it!) the film tackles weighty themes with a light and often humorous touch. Although we originally scheduled this screening for one of Herne Hill’s finest sheds, we decided to upgrade the venue at the last minute so come on down to The Prince Regent on 4 May at 8pm for shed-less night with this oddball Britflick. The film’s producer will be coming down for the screening and a Q&A so make sure you’re on your best behaviour! Anna is approaching 30, living like a hermit in her mum's garden shed and wondering why the suffragettes ever bothered. She spends her days making videos using her thumbs as actors - thumbs that bicker about things like whether Yogi Bear is a moral or existential nihilist. But Anna doesn't show these videos to anyone and no one knows what they are for. A week before her birthday her Mum serves her an ultimatum - she needs to move out of the shed, get a haircut that doesn't put her gender in question and stop dressing like a homeless teenager. Naturally, Anna tells her Mum to "back the f-off". However, when her school friend comes to visit, Anna's self-imposed isolation becomes impossible to maintain. Soon she is entangled with a troubled eight year old boy obsessed with Westerns, and the local estate agent whose awkward interpersonal skills continually undermine his attempts to seduce her. The Herne Hill Free Film Festival will be bringing Adult Life Skills out of the shed and into The Prince Regent on 4 May at 8pm for a night we’ve been looking forward to ever since we saw Emotional Fusebox, the short-film the feature length film is based on, back in 2016. This is another screening that draws on the depth of local talent in South London and we’re lucky to have the film’s producer joining us on the night for the screening and a Q&A at the end. Given how excited we were for this night back in 2016, we can’t even begin describe how we’re feeling about it now…
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Imitation of Life

title Imitation of Life
director Douglas Sirk
year 1959
country USA
certificate 12
running_time 125 mins
date 5 May
venue
name Holy Trinity Church
location Holy Trinity Church, Trinity Rise, London SW2 2QP
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time.start 7:30pm
trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaanE7v6uJI
description Despite receiving a luke-warm reception from the critics on its release in 1959, Imitation of Life is now widely regarded as one of the masterpieces of 1950s cinema which since 2015 has been preserved in the United States’ Library of Congress as a “culturally, historically and aesthetically significant” film. Douglas Sirk’s last film from Hollywood deals with issues of race, class, gender and identity – themes which remain relevant to all of us today – and you can watch it as part of the Herne Hill Free Film Festival at 7:30pm on 5 May at Holy Trinity Church. After the screening we will be holding a discussion of the important themes raised in this film, and we would love it if as many people as possible came along and joined in! Made shortly after the birth of the US Civil Rights movement (and only 4 years after the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955) Imitation of Life follows the relationship between two single mothers, both widows, one white and one black, and the challenges they and their similarly aged daughters face as they venture out into the world around them in 1950s America. Lora Meredith is an aspiring actress who takes in Annie Johnston as her housekeeper after a chance meeting at a beach when Lora’s daughter goes missing. Not just the nanny to Lora’s daughter and her live-in housekeeper, Annie also becomes a personal intimate and a professional colleague as Lora’s career takes off. At the same time Annie has to deal with Sarah Jane, her own daughter, who is struggling with her African-American identity. Although derided as a “soap opera” on its release in 1959 the film was a success at the box office and its critical reception has improved with age. Dealing with broken homes and complex class, race and gender relationships, Imitation of Life is regarded as the jewel in Douglas Sirk’s directing crown. As his last Hollywood film it certainly marks an appropriate end to his celebrated career. Join us at Holy Trinity Church on 5 May at 7:30pm for this masterpiece of 1950s cinema. We will be holding a discussion of the key themes raised in the film after the screening, and we would love it if as many people as possible came along and joined in!
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Victoria

title Victoria
director Sebastian Schipper
year 2015
country Germany
certificate 15
running_time 138 mins
date 6 May
venue
is_outdoor true
name Judith Kerr Primary School
location 62-68 Half Moon Ln, Herne Hill, SE24 9JE
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time.start 8:30pm
trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kp8wcV3GjW0
description Shot in a single take during the early hours of 27 April 2014 in Berlin, and with most of the dialogue improvised by the small cast, Victoria received wide acclaim on its release in 2015 and won the Silver Bear for Cinematography at the 2015 Berlin International Film Festival. Over a few hours the film’s young heroine goes from dancing alone in a club to flirting, an impromptu piano recital, peril and reckless criminality. So just like a regular Wednesday night in Herne Hill in that case. Anyway, the Guardian said “one shot, two hours, total triumph”. We just say come to the Judith Kerr Primary School on 6 May at 7:30pm. After dancing alone in a techno club in Berlin’s Mitte district into the early hours Victoria runs into a pack of young men who offer to show her the real Berlin. Initially joining them for a drink on a nearby rooftop, Victoria’s evening takes a twist and a turn when she finds herself in an underground parking lot with same group as they are tasked with robbing a bank to repay a debt to a local gangster. Victoria, already in way over her head, agrees to act as their driver and from this point on the film goes full-throttle into a breakneck, high-stakes heist thriller. Shot in a single take between 4:30am and 7:00am in the early hours of 27 April 2014 Victoria (although the finished product was actually the third of three takes the team had budget to film) Victoria was received well on its release in 2015. While it is not the first one take film to be made, others include Alexander Sokurov’s Russian Ark and Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope, it is the first to take in more than one location. In fact Victoria criss-crosses an amazing 22 separate Berlin locations in its 138 minutes. When Spike Lee heard about Victoria he simply said “I’ve got to see this film” as he didn’t believe it was even possible. We assure you that it is, and you can see for yourself at Judith Kerr Primary School on 6 May at 7:30pm.
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Adventure Film Night

title Adventure Film Night
director Edda Grjotheim, Inge Wedde
year 2014
country Norway
certificate Not rated
running_time 78 mins
date 7 May
venue
name The Prince Regent
location 69 Dulwich Rd, Brixton, London SE24 0NJ
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time.start 8pm
trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIjZqxqDTNM
description After a capacity crowd in 2016 we decided to host a second Herne Hill Adventure Film Night in 2017 headlined by Bear Island, the followup to one of our favourite films from last year’s programme, North of the Sun. Embracing the adventure theme we’re also going to be showing a number of short films about, you guessed it, things adventurous. If the night’s anything like last year come down to The Prince Regent on 7 May at 8pm if you want to get turned away, and earlier of you want any chance of a seat (or even a square inch of standing space)! Bear Mountain tells the story of three brothers in search of the perfect wave in the Barents Sea, traveling on cross country skis, each with a sled in tow with a surfboard perched atop. Despite snow whipping them as they prepare they manage to hit the virgin waves where no one has surfed before. Well two of them at least. The third has to stand guard with a rifle should Bear Island’s natural predator, the Polar Bear, emerge. As the adventure film night was one of the highlights of our 2016 festival, this night has been in the 2017 programme since June 2016, and when we heard we would be featuring the sequel to North of the Sun (which went down so well with last year’s capacity crowd) we almost couldn’t control our excitement. So come down to The Prince Regent on 7 May at 8pm to calm us down and watch three brothers catch some waves in the cold. To make a night of it like last year, we’re also going to be screening a number of adventurous short films to warm up the audience before the main feature. So do whatever you have to do to get there early, you won’t be disappointed!will be holding a discussion of the key themes raised in the film after the screening, and we would love it if as many people as possible came along and joined in!
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Train to Busan

title Train to Busan
director Sang-ho Yeon
year 2016
country South Korea
certificate 15
running_time 118 mins
date 8 May
venue
name The Half Moon
location 10 Half Moon Lane, Herne Hill, London SE24 9HU
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time.start 8pm
trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyWuHv2-Abk
description If you thought snakes on a plane had potential but was too tame, you may want to come to The Half Moon on 8 May at 8pm to see zombies on a train. And at the station. And frankly everywhere. In South Korea. As the Herne Hill Free Film Festival screens the most successful South Korean film ever made, Train to Busan. As a fairly traditional zombie film – albeit one with a South Korean heritage – Train to Busan is not a film that necessarily warrants a long introduction. Shortly after the titular train leaves its station in Seoul (you guessed it, on its way to Busan) a convulsing young-woman with a bite would to her leg turns into a zombie and attacks a train attendant. He then turns into a zombie and, shock horror, attacks some other people. Who turn into zombies. These zombies then attack… ok, you get the picture. Anyway before long the train is riddled with zombies and the few remaining survivors have to beat a hasty retreat to any and every safe area available to them as the train trundles towards its destination, and the inevitable quarantine zone, in Busan. This is our first screening at The Half Moon since the great flood of 2012 and we could not be more excited to be back. So please join us on 8 May at 8pm for an evening of blood and subtitles, and clear evidence that a morning commute into Blackfriars from Herne Hill really could be worse.
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Bob Roberts

title Bob Roberts
director Tim Robbins
year 1992
country USA
certificate 15
running_time 102 mins
date 9 May
venue
name The Florence
location 131-133 Dulwich Rd, Herne Hill, London SE24 0NG
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time.start 8pm
trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2uWcukaSpg
description In 1992 Bob Roberts, a satirical American-British mockumentary, was released written, directed by and starring Tim Robbins. The film wasn’t a massive success at the time and after having been forgotten for almost twenty five years, interest in it suddenly picked up in late 2016. Why? Well, it was rated by Rolling Stone magazine as the #1 film to predict the rise of Donald Trump. We’re not sure that it predicted anything but there are a few uncanny moments in the film that aren’t quite as funny in 2017 as they probably were in the early 1990s. We searched long and hard to get the licence for this one so don’t let us down, and come along to The Half Moon on 17 May at 8pm to see what Rolling Stone is talking about! In the tradition of This Is Spinal Tap, producer / director / star Tim Robbins' Bob Roberts is a satire disguised as a documentary. Robbins plays the titular Roberts, a wealthy, well-connected young man running for a senatorial seat in Pennsylvania who, on the surface, is an ingratiating glad-hander and a believer in the restoration of such intangibles as national pride and family values, etc. However the longer Roberts is followed by documentary filmmaker Brian Murray, the more you become aware that the candidate is a textbook case of cynicism and contempt. Only a reporter for an underground newspaper is willing to dig beneath his veneer, and he brings the film to its ironic conclusion. Believe it or not, we remember this one from its release in 1992 and it has always been in the back of our minds as a film we have wanted to bring to the people of Herne Hill. When Donald Trump was elected in POTUS in 2017 the decision was taken out of our hands – we had to do it. So come along to The Half Moon on 17 May at 8pm to see what the fuss is about and laugh – fairly uncomfortably we expect – at Tim Robbins’s “satire”.
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Beautiful Devils

title Beautiful Devils
director James Marquand
year 2017
country UK
certificate 15
running_time 119 min
date 10 May
venue
name The Half Moon
location 10 Half Moon Lane, Herne Hill, London SE24 9HU
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time.start 8pm
trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cF25pc2uWiE
description Screening at 8pm on 10 May at The Half Moon is this modern retelling of Shakespeare’s Othello, set within the music scene of East London. Starring a number of emerging British actors and produced by locals Ascension Productions there will be cast and crew in attendance so make sure you hang around after the film for a Q&A and to meet the production team! Beautiful Devils is a 21st Century take on Shakespeare's Othello, shifting the play’s action from the streets of Venice to the music scene of East London. Oz and Ivan are lifelong friends and music producers but when Oz gets offered a lucrative recording contract, he makes the decision to separate from Ivan professionally. This rejection turns to rage, as Ivan plots to undermine Oz's success and get him kicked off the label. The plan kickstarts an escalation of jealousy and paranoia in Oz. With deadly consequences. Come down to The Half Moon on 10 May at 8pm to see this update of Shakespeare’s timeless story of jealousy and betrayal. With cast and crew in attendance there will be a Q&A after the film!
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Easy Rider

title Easy Rider
director Dennis Hopper
year 1969
country USA
certificate 18
running_time 95 mins
date 11 May
venue
name Canopy Beer Co
location Bath Factory Estate, 41 Norwood Rd, SE24 9AJ
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time.start 8pm
trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rd4B9ZRiZDM
description A down-and-dirty directorial debut from former clean-cut teen star Dennis Hopper, Easy Rider is the definitive counterculture blockbuster. In 1969 it heralded the arrival of a new voice in film pitched angrily against the mainstream, with radical editing, an outsider-rock soundtrack, a revelatory performance by a young Jack Nicholson, and an explosive ending. Rev on down to Canopy Beer Co. on 11 May at 8pm to join us for this icon of 1960s cinema… if you’ve seen it before you know what we mean, and if you haven’t you won’t be disappointed! Two young bikers, played by Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper, score a successful drug deal in California with Connection, a Rolls-Royce driving Phil Spector, and stash their money in their gas-tanks before setting off on a road trip with Mardi-Gras in New Orleans their ultimate destination. During a personal odyssey in which they are looking for a way to live their lives the film’s two protagonists encounter a wide landscape of different lifestyles, from a rancher and his wife hard-pressed to make ends meet to bigotry and hatred in small-towns and a group of hippies struggling to make their alternative community work. Having made it to Louisiana, and after a bad hallucinogenic experience and a disagreement over whether their journey has been successful, Fonda and Hopper roll on to Florida and the film’s unexpected ending. Easy Rider’s production might be littered with stories of friendships and falling outs, long rough cuts, knife-fights, stolen motorcycles, lies and drug-taking but what was ultimately released has gone down as a landmark counterculture film and a “touchstone for a generation”. Come to Canopy Beer Co. on 11 May at 8pm to join us for the film that captured the national imagination in America in 1969, influencing cinema well into the 1970s and beyond. The soundtrack ain’t half bad either.
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The Big Lebowski

title The Big Lebowski
director Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
year 1998
country USA
certificate 18
running_time 117 mins
date 12 May
venue
name Off the Cuff
location Arch 645, 301-303 Railton Rd, Herne Hill SE24 0JN
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time.start 8pm
trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd-go0oBF4Y
description It’s The Big Lebowski, it’s free (although we’d really appreciate your donations) and there’s gonna be White Russians. We might also rig up a bit of Nintendo bowling action so you can arrive early to Off the Cuff on 12 May before our 8pm screening to get in the mood for the Coen brothers’ 1998 classic. What more do you need to know, man? Yeah, we thought so! There’s kidnapping, ransom money, a porno king, a reclusive millionaire, a runaway girl, the Malibu police, a woman who paints while nude and strapped to an overhead harness, and the last act of the disagreement between Vietnam veterans and Flower Power. It also features a considerable amount of bowling, has more quotable lines of dialogue than any other 1990s film and includes star turns from Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, John Turturo, Philip Seymour Hoffman… we could go on. The film has also inspired an annual convention and the Church of the Latter-Day Dude and when Jeff Bridges collected his Oscar in 2010 for Crazy Heart people were distraught when his acceptance speech didn’t begin with the words “The Dude abides”. If you’ve seen it before you need to see it again. If you’ve never seen it, see it now. And then come to Off the Cuff at 8pm on 12 May to see it a second time with us. Just grab a White Russian, sit back, relax and indulge. We won’t judge you. We promise.
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Moonlight

title Moonlight
director Barry Jenkins
year 2016
country USA
certificate 15
running_time 111 mins
date 13 May
venue
name Brockwell Lido
location Dulwich Rd, London SE24 0PA
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time.start 9PM
trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NJj12tJzqc
description To try and sell Moonlight to you as the winner of the 2017 Best Picture Oscar would be true, but it also wouldn’t give the film, its writers, its director, its cast, its cinematographers, and so on, the credit they deserve. This one knocked us for six. Straight out the ballpark. So much so that we don’t even know what we’re doing with our metaphors. It’s a challenging and moving story brilliantly translated into our favourite film of the year. And we can’t quite believe how lucky we are to have the chance to show it on 13 May at 9pm at Brockwell Lido. We’re expecting this to be a popular screening so make sure you get there early to grab a spot! Chiron is a reticent child, different from the other kids at school. There’s something about the way he walks, the way he talks, that has others guessing before he does, in an environment where queerness is just not an option. His mother is no help in navigating these waters, so Chiron turns to local drug kingpin Juan, who offers the kind of leadership and emotional support that he so sorely needs. Based on the play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue by Tarell Alvin McCraney and journeying across three time periods, we witness key moments in the formation of Chiron’s masculinity and how in turn, these moments come to define his sexuality. Barry Jenkins’ debut feature Medicine For Melancholy earned him many fans, and Moonlight makes good on that film’s promise, delivering a restrained yet intoxicating story with genuine emotional power. It’s consistently surprising and brims with formal invention, from camera movement to the richly evocative imagery. A combination of our favourite film of the year and our favourite venue makes Moonlight at Brockwell Lido one of the highlights of our 2017 programme. When we heard we’d managed to secure an early licence we almost couldn’t believe it but we’ve calmed down now and can assure you it is happening. So leave your swimsuits at home, bring something to sit on and take it in. If you haven’t seen it yet, now’s your chance. If you have, it’s even better the second time around.
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Cameraperson

title Cameraperson
director Kirsten Johnson
year 2016
country USA
certificate 15
running_time 102 mins
date 14 May
venue
name The Prince Regent
location 69 Dulwich Rd, Brixton, London SE24 0NJ
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time.start 8pm
trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jx52F4iLTL8
description Cinematographer Kirsten Johnson has shot movies including Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004), Kirby Dick’s The Invisible War (2012) and Laura Poitras’s Citizenfour (2014), and in Cameraperson she has created an audacious and experimental collage-film, pulling together a mosaic of fragments from the 20 years that she has shot for other people, and also personal material about her own family. Join us at The Prince Regent on 14 May at 8pm for one of our favourite documentaries of 2016… it’s one we’re certain you won’t want to miss! A boxing match in Brooklyn; life in postwar Bosnia and Herzegovina; the daily routine of a Nigerian midwife; a bustling Sunday market in Herne Hill (ok, we jest); an intimate family moment at home: these scenes and others are woven by Kirsten Johnson into Cameraperson, a tapestry of footage collected over her twenty-five-year career. Through a series of episodic contrasts, Johnson explores the relationships between image makers and their subjects, the tension between the objectivity and intervention of the camera, and the complex interaction of unfiltered reality and crafted narrative. A hybrid work that combines documentary, autobiography, and ethical inquiry, Cameraperson is a moving glimpse into one filmmaker's personal journey and a thoughtful examination of what it means to train a camera on the world. Ever since we saw this one late last year we’ve wanted to bring it to the people of Herne Hill and our 2017 festival is the first chance for us to do so. If you like documentaries as much as we do you’re going to love this one, so come on down to The Prince Regent on 14 May at 8pm for this unique and absorbing film.
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Fire at Sea

title Fire at Sea
director Gianfranco Rosi
year 2016
country Italy
certificate 12A
running_time 116 mins
date 15 May
venue
name The Half Moon
location 10 Half Moon Lane, Herne Hill, London SE24 9HU
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time.start 8pm
trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR5l9XDaxK0
description Winner of the Golden Bear at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival, Fire at Sea (or Fuocoammare) is a documentary shot on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa during the European migrant crisis, setting the migrants' dangerous Mediterranean crossing against a background of the ordinary life of the islanders. If it was meaningful enough for Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi to carry 27 copies of the film to a session of the European Council, one for each member state of the European Union, it should pique your interest enough to make your come to The Half Moon on 15 May at 8pm for this mid-week documentary screening. In his 2016 documentary, director Gianfranco Rosi contrasts the lives of the thousands of migrants landing on the shores of Lampedusa with the everyday existence of the locals. The tragic epicentre of the migrant crisis, 400,000 migrants have arrived on Lampedusa over the past 20 years and many thousands more have died making the journey in unsafe vessels refuelled in choppy seas from diesel jerry cans mid-journey. Using mainly fixed camera positions and no narrative voiceover, the film juxtaposes scenes switching between the migrants’ daily, desperate landfall, and the everyday existence of one Lampedusa family and one young boy in particular. Samuel’s uncle is a fisherman, he does his best at school, he slurps his pasta at dinner, and he likes cutting branches that will make handles for his slingshot. His Lampedusa, his home, is different to the one experienced by the migrants on the island, part holding tank and part cemetery. The migrant crisis may have left our front pages but it has most certainly not gone away, and this beautifully tragic documentary is a reminder of the struggle that hundreds of thousands of people embark on every year, risking their lives and families for the chance of a better life. Join us at The Half Moon on 15 May at 8pm for this masterly and moving look at the migrant crisis. And don’t forget.
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War of Words

title War of Words
director Tom Worth, Craig Tuohy
year 2016
country UK
certificate Not rated
running_time 64 mins
date 16 May
venue
name Off the Cuff
location Arch 645, 301-303 Railton Rd, Herne Hill SE24 0JN
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time.start 8pm
trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPYdCZXiL-E
description Warning: explicit language! What started as an internet phenomenon has now hit the streets, bars and even major arenas: the noble art of verbal humiliation. Rap without brakes. And the culture clash between the latest generation of American and British battle rappers is its entertaining highlight, playing centre stage at the Herne Hill Free Film Festival’s screening of War of Words on 16 May at Off the Cuff at 8pm. A besuited teacher versus a 17-year-old schoolboy are unlikely opponents in a contemporary British battle rap that has its roots in the American East Coast hip-hop scene. While it may have been darker on the other side of the pond, the British version energetically portrayed in War of Words is really just about verbally intimidating your opposition. The films centres around rap champions Marlo and Shuffle T, who look more like internet nerds than tough hip-hop guys, as they prepare for battle against Detroit legends Marv Won and Quest McCody. By explaining how the scene developed and took off, from squares and alleyways to proper venues where everyone – young, old, poor, rich, white, black, male or female – is appreciated as long as they obey the scene’s unwritten rules, War of Words opens the door to a lively but unknown lyrical world. This is a film the Herne Hill Free Film Festival has been waiting to screen for more than two years (hey, these things take time to pull together!) and for 2017 we are ecstatically happy to be bringing it to Off the Cuff on 16 May at 8pm. With cast and crew in attendance and a Q&A after the screening this is one of the high points of our programme and a film you’re not going to want to miss!
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Do the Right Thing

title Do the Right Thing
director Spike Lee
year 1989
country USA
certificate 18
running_time 120 mins
date 18 May
venue
name 198 Contemporary Arts and Learning
location 198 Railton Road, SE24 0JT
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time.start 8pm
trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muc7xqdHudI
description A regular on lists of the best films of all time and the film that brought Spike Lee fame, fortune and a reputation as one of America’s most vital up-and-coming directors, Do the Right Thing follows life in Brooklyn one hot summer Sunday and in doing so delivers a film about race that, impossibly, empathises with all the participants. We’re excited to be bringing this modern classic – scandalously overlooked at the 1990 Academy Awards – to one of our new venues for 2017, 198 Contemporary Arts and Learning. So come along on 18 May at 8pm to see the film that made the career of one of the most influential directors of the last 30 years. You’ll regret it if you don’t! Everyday Sal Fragione opens the pizza parlour he's owned for 25 years. The neighbourhood has changed considerably in the time he's been there and is now composed primarily of African-Americans and Hispanics. His son Pino hates it and would like nothing better than to relocate to their own neighbourhood. For Sal however, the restaurant represents something that is part of his life and sees it as a part of the community. What begins as a simple complaint by one of his customers, who wonders why he has only pictures of famous Italian-Americans on the wall when most of his customers are black, eventually disintegrates into violence as frustration seemingly brings out the worst in everyone. When Roger Ebert saw this one for the first time he had tears in his eyes, and its Oscar’s snub has gone down as one of the most glaring in the Academy Awards’ history. It is, quite simply, a great film that you need to see. And we’re giving you the chance. All you have to do is come to 198 Contemporary Arts and Learning at 8pm on 18 May. Easy. As. That.
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Moana

title Moana
director Rob Clements, Don Hall
year 2016
country USA
certificate PG
running_time 117 mins
date 20 May
venue
name effraspace
location 21 Effra Parade, Brixton, London SW2 1PX
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time.start 2pm
trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKFuXETZUsI
description In a strong year for animation in which Disney, Pixar, Illumination, Laika and Studio Ghibli all jostled for the Oscars’ crown Disney doubled down late in 2016 with Moana, the visually-stunning story of a Polynesian teenager’s quest to save her homeland. The Herne Hill Free Film Festival’s matinee film may well be aimed at children and those that appreciate a relaxed screening but don’t worry, we won’t be taking IDs at the door if anyone else wants to come along! Come down to effraspace at 2pm on 20 May to journey with us to the South Pacific in this animated fantasy. Moana (voiced by Hawaiian newcomer Auli’i Cravalho) is an explorer with fire in her soul and a love for the sea who, inspired by her grandmother, ventures into the wide blue yonder on a mission to restore the Heart of Te Fiti a mystical stone needed to help rescue her island home’s failing ecosystem. Ignoring her father’s advice to stay within the bounds of the reef surrounding their island home of Motunui, Moana locates Maui – the tattooed demigod played by Dwayne Johnson – who guides her in her quest to become a master wayfinder in a journey that brings close encounters with a swarm of pirates and a fiery lava monster. Supported by the kind of score we’ve come to expect from Disney’s animation studios these days and with a script from Lin-Manuel Miranda, writer of the stage play Hamilton, Moana is a joyous animation and a film we’re really looking forward to having as our matinee screening in 2017. This event is targeted at the younger audience of Herne Hill, and those that appreciate a relaxed screening, but Maui won’t be on the door to bar anyone’s entry. So come down to effraspace at 2pm on 20 May for an afternoon of animated enjoyment for all the family!
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Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

title Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
director Stephen Elliott
year 1994
country Australia
certificate 15
running_time 104 mins
date 20 May
venue
name Brockwell Park
location Norwood Rd, London SE24 9BJ
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time.start 9pm
trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgFDIinCeYI
description A cult classic since its release in 1994, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert tells the music-heavy tale of two drag-queens and a transgender woman as they journey across Australia from Sydney to Alice Springs, encountering a number of strange characters on the way. Screening at Brockwell Park at 9pm on 20 May the night will be a sing-a-long spectacular to make the most of a legendary soundtrack of camp-classics, from ABBA to CeCe Peniston and Gloria Gaynor. Get in your shower now and get practicing… there’s still time to perfect your “I Will Survive”! In The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert the usually menacing British actor Terence Stamp does a complete turnaround as Bernadette, an aging transsexual who tours the backwaters of Australia with her stage partners, Mitzi (played by Hugo Weaving) and Adam/Felicia (played by Guy Pearce). Their act, well-known in Sydney, involves wearing lots of makeup and gowns and lip-synching to records, but Bernadette is getting a bit tired of it all and is also haunted by the bizarre death of an old loved one. Nevertheless, when Mitzi and Felicia get an offer to perform in the remote town of Alice Springs at a casino, Bernadette decides to tag along. The threesome ventures into the outback with Priscilla, a lavender-colored school bus that doubles as dressing room and home on the road. Along the way, the act encounters any number of strange characters, as well as incidents of homophobia, while Bernadette becomes increasingly concerned about the path her life has taken. Join us at Brockwell Park on 20 May at 9pm for the sing-a-long version of this camp classic. Dress up or dress down, we don’t mind, but make sure you bring your best singing voice and get ready to shake your groove thing!
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Murderball

title Murderball
director Henry Rubin, Dana Shapiro
year 2005
country UK
certificate 15
running_time 85 mins
date 21 May
venue
name Fison Fitness
location 280 Milkwood Rd, Herne Hill, London SE24 0EZ
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time.start 8pm
trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbiFjp0jqto
description Despite being centred on the sport of Wheelchair Basketball, Murderball isn’t really a sports film. It is however one of those rare documentaries where life provides a better ending than the filmmakers could have hoped for, and a film that uses sport to see into the lives, hopes and fears of athletes who were once young men waking up in hospital beds and being told they would never walk again. Come along to Fison Fitness on 21 May at 8pm to see one of our favourite films of the 2000s and the film we’re all excited to have in our 2017 programme! How do you eat your pizza with your elbows? It's a natural question for a little boy to ask a quadruple amputee, and Bob Lujano is happy to answer it. In fact he and the other stars of Murderball wish more people would ask more questions, instead of becoming inhibited around people in wheelchairs. Murderball charts the progress of (and the rivalry between) the US and Canadian quad rugby teams in the lead up to the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens. Young men, most with spinal injuries, play this rough and tumble sport in special chairs, and as the film gets to know them and their families they talk frankly about their injuries, feelings in public, sex lives, competitiveness, and love of the game. We’ve not been able to forget this film since we first saw it back in 2005 which is why we hope you can make it down to Fison Fitness on 21 May at 8pm for this Sundance winner and Oscar nominee. It might sound like a cliché but remember, although we may not all be in chairs and we might not all be athletes, we do all have disabilities.
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Little Shop of Horrors

title Little Shop of Horrors
director Frank Oz
year 1986
country US
certificate PG
running_time 94 mins
date 23 May
venue
name South London Botanical Institute
location 323 Norwood Rd, London SE24 9AQ
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time.start 8pm
trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWu1Q16AV5U
description If the story, of a nerdy florist who finds success and romance with the help of a giant man-eating plant, doesn’t make you want to come to the South London Botanical Institute on 23 May at 8pm to see this mid-1980s rock musical horror comedy (a niche genre, we agree) we don’t know what will. On its release Roger Ebert said it was the kind of movie that cults are made of and that it would become one of those movies that fans want to include in their lives. Well, we’re including it in our festival programme; it’s up to you to come down to the South London Botanical Institute on 23 May at 8pm to make it part of your life! Starring Rick Moranis and Steve Martin, and featuring John Candy, Christopher Guest and Bill Murray, this adaptation of the off-Broadway success of the same name tells the story of Seymour, a colleague of his at Muchnik’s Flower Shop called Audrey and a plant procured from a Chinese flower shop. Left at that, we agree the film might not appeal, but if you make Seymour’s plant carnivorous, humongous and musical (and you factor in Steve Martin playing a sadistic dentist in one of the roles of his career) you can see why this has become a cult classic over its 30 year history. Marking the pinnacle of Rick Moranis’s career (yes, even after taking into account Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and its wholly original sequel Honey, I Blew Up the Baby) we are excited to be showing this botanical blockbuster in Herne Hill in 2017. So come down to the South London Botanical Institute on 23 May at 8pm for a floral film in a vegetal venue. We promise there’ll be no more phytobiological puns (as you can tell, we’ve already run out).
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Short Film Night

title Short Film Night
running_time 120 mins
date 25 May
venue
name The Prince Regent
location 69 Dulwich Rd, Brixton, London SE24 0NJ
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time.start 8pm
description A staple of the Herne Hill Free Film Festival’s programme since we began all the way back in 2012 our Short Film Night looks set to be another eclectic evening of cinematic wonder. There’s going to be short films, a few shorter films an occasional long short film and talent from SE24 and beyond. As usual we’re going to have a wide range of cast and crew in attendance to talk about their films so we’re certain this is going to be (yet) another great night at The Prince Regent on 25 May. The evening’s activities start at 8pm and we recommend you get there early to grab a seat! Although we could reveal the film programme to you now, we would have to kill you. So to make sure you get the chance to enjoy the evening we’re going to keep everything tightly under wraps until 7:59pm on 25 May.
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La La Land

title La La Land
director Damien Chazelle
year 2016
country US
certificate 12A
running_time 128 mins
date 26 May
venue
name Herne Hill Velodrome
location 104 Burbage Rd, Herne Hill, London SE24 9HE
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time.start 9pm
trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pdqf4P9MB8
description In early 2017 a musical was released in UK cinemas that went unnoticed, starred a cast of unknowns and had a score that can be described as moderately foot-tapping at best. We felt sorry for the studio – which has clearly lost big-time on this one – and so in a final attempt to try to get it a bit of recognition we decided to screen it at the Herne Hill Velodrome on 26 May at 9pm. It’s called La La Land. Or something like that. Come along. Or don’t. You might enjoy it. Or you might not. The Herne Hill Velodrome has been on a long journey in recent years and we would love you to join us on the night to celebrate its new pavilion and newly secure future. Chapeau! From the director of Whiplash comes La La Land, a musical romance that rushes from first love to heartache via showtunes, love songs and free jazz. With modern day Los Angeles as its backdrop the film tells the story of Mia, an aspiring actress, and Sebastian, a dedicated jazz musician, as they struggle to make ends meet while pursuing their dreams in a city known for destroying hopes and breaking hearts. Damien Chazelle wrote the screenplay in 2010 but couldn’t find a studio willing to finance the film until, following the success of Whiplash, La La Land was picked up in 2014. Since premiering at Venice in the summer of 2016 the film has grossed more than $500 million worldwide, a fair return on a $30 million investment, and in 2017 it received 14 nominations at the 89th Academy Awards (tying with All About Eve and Titanic for the most Oscar nominations ever). The story. The music. The casting. The colour. The setting. The dancing. The nostalgia. The everything. We love it all. And we suspect you will too. So come down to the Herne Hill Velodrome on 26 May at 9pm to indulge in the biggest film of 2017 so far. You may leave the screening with a tear in your eye but you’ll have a song in your heart, and you’ll have had amazing free night at one of the Herne Hill Free Film Festival’s most iconic venues!
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Arrival

title Arrival
director Denis Villeneuve
year 2016
country US
certificate 12A
running_time 116 mins
date 27 May
venue
name Evelyn Grace Academy
location 255 Shakespeare Road, London, SE24 0QN
time.start 9pm
trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFMo3UJ4B4g
description We’ve always thought that Zaha Hadid’s Evelyn Grace Academy looks like it’s come straight out of science fiction movie, so when we got the chance to screen there we couldn’t think of a better film to start than Arrival. Not only does it mark our arrival at a new venue for 2017 (do you see what we did there?) but we also think it’s one of the best sci-fi films we’ve seen in quite some time. With a Sterling prize-winning backdrop that nowhere else in London can match, join us to meet Abbott and Costello (you’ll know what we mean when you see the film!) and take in the “dreamy, freaky and audacious” gravity-defying film that “skirts on the edge of absurdity”. At its essence, Arrival is an alien invasion film with the invasion on pause; 12 mile-high question mark shaped ships appear above seemingly random points around the globe, including Devon for some reason, and then just hang there admiring the view. To work out why the aliens have arrived, and more importantly to understand any answer they might share, the US military enlists the support of Dr. Louise Banks (played by Amy Adams), an expert linguist, and theoretical physicist, Ian Donnelly (played by Jeremy Renner), to go inside one tomb-like vessel in rural Montana and chew the fat with the visitors. With mankind teetering on the verge of global war, Banks and Donnelly face a race against time decipher the aliens’ complex calligraphy and, quite possibly, to save humanity. No pressure then. Based on Story of Your Life, the 1998 sci-fi short story by Ted Chiang, and nominated for 8 Oscars (but winning only one, for Best Sound Editing), the Herne Hill Free Film Festival is excited to be bringing Arrival to the Evelyn Grace Academy on 27 May at 9pm. We caught this one on its release in the cinema but it’s really a film that works best in the right setting, and outdoors, in Herne Hill (we think everything’s better in Herne Hill), on a late May evening and with a Sterling prize winner as the backdrop is a pretty good effort we thought!
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48hr Film Competition Awards

title 48hr Film Competition Awards
date 28 May
venue
name effraspace
location 21 Effra Parade, Brixton, London SW2 1PX
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time.start 4pm
description The Herne Hill Free Film Festival’s 48 Hour Film Competition is back for its fifth year, continuing its search for local filmmaking talent. If you’re not already familiar with the biggest annual filmmaking competition the SE24 postcode has ever seen, we give you a line of dialogue, a prop, a Herne Hill location and 48 hours and all you have to give us is a 2 minute short film that will make SE23 and SE25 seethe with jealousy. The clock starts ticking on Saturday 29 April so come to The Prince Regent from 12pm to enter, and come back 48 hours later at 12pm on 1 May with your Clockie* winner. You can use your phone, a tablet, a camera or anything else you can lay your hands on to craft your masterpiece which will be judged by our panel of Oscar winners (for once, we’re being serious!) and as with previous years there are three competition categories: Under 16s; Over 16s; and Families. The awards ceremony will be taking place at effraspace at 4pm on 28 May, ahead of our Station Square screening where the winners’ films will also be showcased for the cinematic education of the whole of Herne Hill. *The prize all Oscar, Palme d’Or and Golden Bear winners would happily trade their awards and grandmothers for. Crafted from solid wood, ink from a pen and real (yes, real) plastic buttons, Herne Hill’s Clockie is an accurate representation (with a healthy dose of artistic discretion) of Brockwell Park’s famous clock tower.
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Station Square Silent Showcase

title Station Square Silent Showcase
country US
certificate PG
running_time 90 mins
date 28 May
venue
name Herne Hill Station
location Herne Hill Station, Herne Hill, SE24 0JP
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time.start 9pm
description With the new piano now well established outside Herne Hill station the Herne Hill Free Film Festival is pleased to be bringing a night of silent cinema to Station Square on 28 May, for the final outdoor event of 2017’s festival. With the UK’s leading silent film accompanist and local resident Neil Brand tinkling the ivories, we are certain the triple-bill of Charlie Chaplin, Charley Chase and Laurel and Hardy will be splitting the sides of Herne Hill and mark a hilarious highpoint to a month of cinematic magic in SE24. The evenings screenings start at 9pm but get there early to grab a good seat! The Rink, Charlie Chaplin (30 mins) Charlie employs an unorthodox approach to his work as a waiter. He prepares bills by examining food stains on customers clothing, he makes a cocktail with a shimmy of his body while the cocktail shaker remains immobile in his hands and he carelessly places a broiler cover over a live cat that he serves to a startled diner. He is however also incredibly graceful on roller skates, which is how he spends his lunch break… Limousine Love (Charley Chase) (20 mins) It’s Charley’s wedding day and he’s running late. When his chauffeur quits in a huff Charley is forced to take the wheel himself, in his formal get-up of tailcoat and top hat, and drive through a remote rural area to the wedding. After stepping away from his car for a brief moment he comes back and resumes driving unaware that he has a beautiful nude girl riding in the backseat, which is where the fun begins (for us at least!). The Finishing Touch (Laurel and Hardy) (19 mins) Laurel and Hardy are contracted to build a house in one day but on completion a bird lands on the chimney and the house collapses, bit by bit. When the owner demands his money back, mayhem ensues. Somewhat unsurprisingly.
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Something Better to Come

title Something Better to Come
director Hannah Polak
year 2015
country Poland / Denmark
certificate Unrated
running_time 98 mins
date 29 May
venue
name The Lido Café
location Brockwell Swimming Pool, Dulwich Rd, London SE24 0PA
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time.start 8pm
trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PereQR9lSk
description Shown to a sell-out crowd at the Barbican in March 2017, the Herne Hill Free Film Festival is excited to be bringing Hannah Polak’s 2014 documentary film Something Better to Come to Herne Hill for its second screening in the UK. The film follows 10-year old Yula, living in Europe's largest junkyard on the outskirts of Moscow, for a period of 14 years as she plays innocent childhood games, finds love for the first time and, as a grown woman, has the realisation that her future lies outside of the Svalka’s walls. We know you’re going to enjoy this one, but we also know you’re not going to get another chance to it again any time soon. So make the most of this opportunity and come down to The Lido Café on 29 May at 8pm. You won’t be disappointed. Situated 13 miles from the Kremlin, just on the outskirts of Putin's big showcase of a city, the Svalka is a huge mountain of trash, 17 stories high and stretching for over two miles. Although life can be grim and dismal for the Svalka's inhabitants, it also brings out the best in people; they generously share their vodka and last breadcrumbs with each other and open up their ramshackle sheds to shelter those who need it. And despite the misery that life here has to offer, people strive for normality. Yula – the 10-year old focus of the film – dreams of escaping the Svalka and, for a period of 14 years Something Better to Come, follows Yula's life. In 2000 the film’s director was granted intimate access Yula and her family, and over more than a decade she builds a solid relationship of trust with those that she's filming. With year after year passing and it appears that nothing changes for Yula, however the film’s epilogue – shot six years after the main bulk of the running time – gives cause for optimism. The Herne Hill Free Film Festival is lucky to have the chance to show this documentary from Oscar nominated Polish director, cinematographer and producer Hannah Polak. The screening at The Lido Café on 29 May at 8pm will be its second appearance in the United Kingdom, and if you miss this chance you probably won’t get the opportunity to see it again. So come down. We are certain that the film, and Yula’s story, won’t disappoint.
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